How to Set a Chinese Place Setting

Plates and bowls are filled by diners from communal dishes.

Chinese meals, whether a banquet or an informal family dinner, are served at a table that looks very different from European-style dining. The Chinese love for beauty and symmetry, and the practical utility of different eating utensils, bowls and plates, creates a pleasing harmony on the well-set table that hints of the complex tastes and delicacies to come.

Center of Attraction

The main meal at a Chinese banquet or daily dinner is served communally. Dishes are placed in the center of the table, often on a lazy Susan, for diners to help themselves. Regional Chinese cuisine relies on signature dipping sauces to flavor local specialties, so diners have several dishes and dipping bowls at each individual place setting. In addition to the platters of food, the table center might include a symbolic flower or other centerpiece, depending on available space. The table itself might or might not be covered with a simple cloth; personal style will determine whether or not there are decorative table runners. To facilitate service from communal platters, many Chinese dinner tables are round.

Essential Dinnerware

A single place setting at a Chinese table includes a plate for main course foods; a bowl or bowls for rice and soup; small plates and dipping bowls for sauces, condiments and inedible items such as a random fish bone; a pair of chopsticks and a chopstick rest; a porcelain soup spoon; a cup for tea, and one or more glasses for other beverages -- wine, liquor or nonalcoholic. The rice bowl and condiment or dipping bowls may be filled prior to guests being seated.

Place Setting Pattern

Variations about where to place each item are as numerous as hosts, but a general guide relies on practicality. The main serving platters are grouped in the middle of the table. A flat plate topped by an empty bowl -- for soup, shared items and solid main course foods -- goes directly in front of a guest. To the right or directly above the plate and bowl, a pair of chopsticks are arranged with the tapered ends pointing to the left, if horizontal above the plate, or toward the center of the table, if vertical and to the right of the plate. The porcelain soup spoon is laid horizontally above the plate, handle to the left. A small bowl of rice sits above the main plate, slightly to its left. A small sauce bowl may be placed above the soup spoon or slightly to the right above the plate. The teacup goes above the main plate, often to the right, occasionally upturned before tea is served. Napkins may be centered on the plate or in the empty bowl, or tucked beside the plate.

Chopstick Etiquette

Chopsticks can be challenging for those unaccustomed to eating with them, but they are graceful, efficient and utilitarian at a Chinese meal. It would be wise to practice picking up food with them. They have their own etiquette, and familiarity with chopsticks protocol will help you avoid an embarrassing gaffe. The chopsticks are often placed with the narrow ends on a chopstick rest. Once you have used them, always return them to the rest; never place the used ends on the table. In a communal meal, most dishes will have a large pair of communal chopsticks. This is what you use to serve yourself that dish, returning the chopsticks to the dish for the next guest. Do not use your own chopsticks in a shared dish in any but the most familial meals, and maybe not even then. If there are no communal chopsticks, use the fat, blunt end of yours to serve yourself from a shared bowl.